


tender

by FallingStars5683



Series: moss [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Flowers, Gardening, Gen, Introspection, Lars deserves some quiet moments, Moss Flowers, Short Story, calm, nothing too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 12:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14619042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingStars5683/pseuds/FallingStars5683
Summary: Lars does some gardening.





	tender

**Author's Note:**

> I'm rewatching all of Steven Universe after A Single Pale Rose came out. This and its companion story happened after I watched Lars and the Cool Kids. They were written in a couple hours, so their quality isn't great, but I just needed a quiet moment with one of my favorite characters.  
> This takes place before he gets sent into space. Thanks for reading.  
> (Artwork coming soon!)

It was quiet when the car rumbled up to the little pond. Lars parked and cut the engine, looking around. Good, no one was around. Hopefully no one would show up before he was done. Opening the door, he jumped out and walked up to the pond, assessing the situation. It had been about a year since he and Steven had almost died at Dead Man’s Mouth. It was strange, but the memory didn’t freak him out like it used to. Heck, it didn’t freak him out all that bad before. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe for the same reason he was here again today.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he mumbled to himself.

Lars went around to the back of his parents’ car (he had borrowed it for the day), and carefully extricated the large net he had borrowed from Sour Cream’s stepfather. This wasn’t going to be the easiest task, but someone had to do it, and Steven was busy with trying to keep the city from being destroyed all the time. With the net in his arms, he made his way to the pond. The moss was still there, even more than last year. Luckily, the net was a good size. He just hoped this would work.

He gathered the moss in sweeps, getting one large clump and moving on to the next. It was a slow job, made slower the more the net filled up, but Lars knew that it would be worth it. The moss could thank him for it later, and so would his body once it stopped being sore. He wondered how Steven’s mom did this. Was there some sort of magic transportation thing she used to move it? Did she struggle with it trying to eat her? What was her secret? He supposed it didn’t really matter, since whatever she did probably wouldn’t be of any use to him. He wasn’t a Gem.

It took about a half-hour to get all the moss into the net, and then it was rush time. Lars knew that the moss liked to grow fast, and with how much there was, it would overtake the car quickly. It was a chore just dragging it back to the car. There was absolutely no time to waste. Jumping in the front and buckling in, he peeled away from Dead Man’s Mouth, thanking the stars that there wasn’t anyone on the road. Then again, it was Sunday. He picked that day for just that reason.

Once he reached the hill, he didn’t even bother getting out of the car. He just drove straight to the precipice, stopping about five feet back. Which was just as well, because the moss had started to overtake the back wheels, spreading to his body. He didn’t mind. He could see the sun peeking through the clouds and knew that he would be okay.

As if on cue, the bright rays shot through the cover, breaking the gloom and shedding a sunset to behold all over the town, and the hillside. The moss, bathed in light, twitched, shivered, then exploded into pedals. Lars could see it now, hundreds of thousands of little pink blooms spiraling into the air, catching high on the wind before drifting away over the town. The gems in their centers glittered, making the entire scene even more magical than it was before.

Lars wanted a better look. Climbing out of the car, he went right up to the edge of the cliff and sat down, his legs dangling as he gazed down at the little town. His little town. He may complain about it often, and make it look like he didn’t ever want to be there, but the truth was, he loved the place. He had lived there his whole life, had played on the boardwalk and the beach when he was younger, and even met someone he wanted to be with (though he would never tell anyone). It was moments like this, when he was alone, that he really let himself look at it the way he wanted to.

Maybe this was why he decided to help the moss. It made him happy.

Just like the first time, he reached out his hand and caught a bloom in his fingers. It was soft, and smelled otherworldly, like something that he yearned for, but hadn’t reached yet. It was his favorite smell. Well, second favorite. He let it go and watched it drift away. As he did so, something caught his eye. He looked to the beach, where there were a couple of figures playing, running around like they didn’t have a care in the world. With no surprise, he realized it was Steven and that one friend of his. The girl. Connie, that was her name. He watched as they looked up and noticed the flowers, stopping to admire them. Steven caught a few and brought them to Connie, deftly weaving them into her hair. It was so sweet.

And then, like he could tell he was being watched, Steven stared up at the hill where Lars sat. For a second, Lars panicked, hoping he couldn’t be recognized from that distance. Then he realized that was stupid. Steven wouldn’t make fun of him for taking care of some moss. In fact, he’d probably be grateful. Yeah, there it was. Steven had started to wave. Connie seemed lost before Steven pointed up to the hill. Connie looked as well, saw Lars, and waved, too.

Ah, well. Lars waved back.

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream with me on my [blog!](https://fallingstars5683.tumblr.com/)


End file.
